Ukraine confiscates Crimean fishing vessel Nord

Saturday, October 20, 2018 3:00:13 PM

The Prosecutor's office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in accordance with a court decision, handed over the vessel Nord to the National Agency of Ukraine for finding, tracing and management of assets derived from corruption and other crimes (ARMA). According to the prosecutor's office press service, the decision was made in order to preserve budget funds spent on the detained vessel’s maintenance in the Berdyansk port area.

The Prosecutor’s office noted that on October 4, the Kyiv Court of Appeal sent an indictment against the Nord vessel’s captain for committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 312-1 (violation of entry/ exit procedure of the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine with the intention to cause damage to the interests of the state) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to determine jurisdiction and further consideration on the merits.

On March 25, Ukrainian border guards detained the fishing vessel Nord from the Crimea. Ten people were on board of the vessel. The ship's captain was arrested but later released on bail. Other crew members tried to leave Ukraine but were stopped at the airport in Kyiv. Only two sailors managed to fly to Minsk and return home to the Crimea after Russian diplomats provided them with new passports with the names that did not coincide with those indicated in the Ukrainian stop-lists.